The Telltale Rain
by Junsui
Summary: The tears falling from the sky seemed to match her mood, but there were no tears left in her to cry...just a dull ache. Takes place the night before Dumbledore's funeral.


**A/N: This is a response to a challenge given by She-Elf on the Harry Potter forum Founders' Dream (check my profile for the link).**

**Here are the details for the challenge:**

**Write a story with the theme "Cold is the night"; you don't need to put this as the title for your story but the plotline has to do something with it.**

**You can choose the main characters, but you must include Filch and Mrs. Norris.**

**  
Your story must include a rainy night, the expeliarmus spell, and a broom.**

**This is what my brain came up with, and it's the first time I've tried something like this. For the time being it will remain a one shot. Obviously, I don't own anything related to Harry Potter.**

_**The Telltale Rain**_

_**telltale: a thing serving to reveal or disclose something**_

She slowly walked around the grounds of Hogwarts. The tears falling from the sky seemed to match her mood, but there were no tears left in her to cry...just a dull ache. Despite the fact that it was June, the rain was chilly. Even though she was soaked, Hermione didn't mind the cold. She felt cold in her heart right now, and again it seemed as though outside her matched what she felt inside: dark, gloomy, crying, cold. Hermione wasn't sure how close it was to curfew because the rain made it dark outside. She continued to slowly walk the grounds, occasionally touching a tree, a bush, a flower. It all seemed so far away for these things to be so green and full of life when the master of these grounds was dead and gone...plants were like phoenixes who were reborn from the ashes, but the same thing couldn't be said of mere mortal humans. A lump appeared in Hermione's throat again, and she wondered if she had found more tears to cry.

"Hermione?" came a soft male voice from behind her. Hermione whirled around to gaze into concerned emerald eyes. She said nothing because no words could get past the lump in her throat.

"Hermione?" Harry asked again, "Are you alright?"

_No_, she wanted to say, _I'm not alright. Dumbledore is dead, and he's left you all alone to save the Wizarding World. _But the words wouldn't come.

Harry took one look at the look on Hermione's face and gathered her into his arms. "It's okay," he said, rubbing her back. They stood in silence, dripping with a rain that couldn't wash away the feelings of guilt they both carried inside. Hermione felt guilty that Harry, of all people, had to come out and comfort her. But this seemed to help him feel better, although from the way he held her, she could tell he was still hurting inside.

Finally, she broke the silence, pulling away from him and attempting (most futilely) to wipe the water from her face. "I'm sorry...I feel so silly." she said.

Harry just watched her. "There's no need for you to feel silly..." he said.

"Yes, there is." she insisted. "I'm out here walking around in the rain saying good-bye to the grounds. It's so...so..."

"Impractical?" Harry supplied. When Hermione shot a glare at him, Harry said, "Hermione, it's okay to have emotions that aren't logical sometimes."

Hermione stood in silence for a few moments before speaking again. When she did, her voice was strained as though she were attempting not to cry. "I'm also feeling guilty because I'm missing something that seems so trivial right now." Harry remained silent, waiting for her to feel ready to continue. "I-I wish...that we had more time to just be normal teenagers." Harry nodded his head in understanding.

When they stood there in silence a little longer, Harry asked, "What else is bothering you?"

Hermione got a surprised expression on her face, and Harry said with a tone of humor, "Hermione, I may be just a guy, but I'm not entirely dense."

Hermione's face fell, and she looked away. "It's nothing," she said croakily. When Harry looked about ready to protest, she confessed, "It's so silly. I was thinking that maybe...if we'd had more time...Ron and I could've...I don't know, dated." She looked very guilty.

Harry said gently, "Hermione, you and Ron have promised to stay by my side and go into battle. It's not silly to wish for...love...and happiness."

"Well, who knows what will happen now?" Hermione said wistfully, gazing at the drenched grounds as the rain continued to pour down.

After standing a few more moments in silence, Harry asked, "Hermione, won't you come in out of the cold now?"

She shook her head. "I want to...stay out here...a little longer."

Harry nodded and then went back into the castle. After entering the castle and casting a drying spell on himself, he bit his lip in thought. Then he got a determined expression on his face and marched up the stairs to the Gryffindor Common Room. When he climbed through the portrait hole, he found Ron waiting right where he'd left him: in front of the fire, playing chess to try and keep his mind off of things.

"Ron," Harry said impatiently.

"Hmmm?" Ron said, not really paying attention.

"Ron, it's time."

"Time to what?" Ron asked, only semi-curious as he was only semi-paying attention.

"It's time for you and Hermione to get together."

Ron choked. "What?"

"Ron, Hermione is like my sister. Just like you don't like to see you sister hurt, I don't like seeing my sister hurt. If you keep being such a git, I'm going to have to hurt you." Harry said grimly.

Ron stared at his best friend in amazement. "You're joking, right?" he asked slowly.

Harry shook his head in a staccato movement. "Go. Now." he said firmly.

"Go where?" Ron asked in confusion. He begin slowly inching his wand out in case Harry had finally gone nuts, but the observant and ever on the defensive Harry noticed and casually said "_Expelliarmus._" Ron's wand flew into Harry's hand.

Ron stared at Harry, scared. Harry laughed, "I haven't gone nuts, mate. Accio Firebolt." Once the Firebolt came into Harry's waiting hand, he held it out to Ron. Ron was still staring at Harry like he'd gone nuts. "Take it!" Harry said irritably.

"And do what?" Ron asked as he reached out and cautiously took the broom.

"Go outside and do whatever you need to do to FINALLY get together with Hermione!" Harry said in exasperation.

Seeing that Harry wasn't going to take no for an answer, Ron climbed out of the portrait hole and walked outside. "Where is she?" he muttered as he tried to see through the water and the gloom.

After wandering for a little bit, Ron finally spotted Hermione. She spotted him at about the same time. Hesitating, Ron walked over to her. "Hey," he said softly.

"Hey," she said softly back.

"Want to go for a ride?" he said, gesturing to the broom.

A shadow of doubt crossed Hermione's face before she steeled herself. Ron was asking if he could share something he loved with her. "Sure," she said casually.

They headed towards the Quidditch Pitch. Once there, Ron silently mounted the broom and helped Hermione on the broom as well. "Hold on tight," he said as he took off slowly, not wanting to frighten her, knowing how she felt about flying. He felt her arms tighten around him.

Once they had rose a bit in the air, Ron asked her, "Should I go faster?" Her lips a thin line, Hermione nodded. Ron sped up and skillfully guided the broom through a series of maneuvers. Finally, he came to a stop and hovered again. He turned to her (as well as you could turn on a broom) and was surprised to see a breathless and thrilled look on her face.

"That was amazing!" she said.

"I thought you didn't like flying?" Ron asked, puzzled.

"Well, the way you flew, it was just like a roller coaster," Hermione explained.

"A roller coaster?" Ron said blankly.

"It's a muggle ride," Hermione said. Sometime while they'd be flying the rain had stopped. The sun was deep on its way to setting, but a few light rain clouds lingered. As they stood looking over the vast grounds of Hogwarts from the air, Hermione observed, "I like flying so much better when you're in charge of the broom. I actually feel perfectly safe." She stopped talking and gazed at Ron, flushed.

Ron looked away for a second and then said, "Hermione?"

"Yes, Ron?" she asked softly.

"I-I like you. I like you as more than just a best friend." He took a deep breath and continued, "I've liked you for a very, very long time. In fact," he decided to confess, "the reason I've been acting like such a git is because I was upset that you snogged Victor Krum."

Hermione had a very surprised look on her face. "Really?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yes," he said sheepishly, "I was mad...that I didn't get to be your first kiss."

"You...you want to kiss me?"

"I'm going to kiss you," Ron said as he pressed his kips against hers. It was brief and chaste but passionate. Then he pulled back.

Hermione opened her eyes. "Well, you did get to be my first kiss on a broom." she said, smiling shyly.

Ron smiled back, "You're my first kiss on a broom as well." He leaned in to capture her lips again, devoting a minute part of his attention to guiding the broom back towards the ground before things became too heated, and it became dangerous to snog in midair. Not to mention, it was great for a sneaky quick kiss but not to kiss passionately and deeply and close while facing each other. Kissing Hermione was nothing like kissing Lavender. He'd only kissed Lavender out of petty and immature revenge and because he felt like he was being left behind. He kissed Hermione because he had cared so much for her for such a long time. It was a kiss of possession, a kiss of "at last."

Hermione felt rather dazed. Viktor's kisses had been nothing like this. They had been kind kisses, bashful kisses, "I can't believe you agreed to be with me" kisses. She couldn't even feel the cold anymore. When they were near the ground, Hermione pulled breathlessly back. "I like you too, Ron."

He laughed a throaty and husky laugh before saying dryly, "I should hope so." Hermione blushed as they climbed off the broom.

Suddenly they heard a loud meow and looked around to see Mrs. Norris, who had ventured outside for some fresh air after the rain. She looked at them and meowed a reprimanding meow.

"Eh, my beauty, is someone about?" They looked at each other, pale, as they heard the familiar scratchy voice of Mr. Filch. Mr. Filch walked into view and crabbily viewed Ron and Hermione as he walked over to his beloved Mrs. Norris. After standing there for a few moments and surveying them with a stony silence, he picked up Mrs. Norris and walked away without saying another word. After the recent events that had occurred at Hogwarts and being who Ron and Hermione were...who was he to bother them when they were probably trying to escape the awful events that would occur on the morrow, when the greatest headmaster the school had ever known would be put to rest?

Ron and Hermione watched in shock as Filch just walked away. Wasn't he going to yell at them? Surely it was curfew by now. They looked at each other before silently agreeing with their eyes that it didn't matter right now...they both looked windblown and partially dried from zipping through the air after being soaked. Without even thinking about it they held hands as they walked back to the school in a comfortable silence. Ron was suddenly struck by a horrible thought. He hoped Hermione never found out that Harry had forced him to come out here...

**A/N: Thanks to imperialprincess for inspiring me to come up with the improved title, which is sort of based on Edgar Allan Poe's _The Telltale Heart_...but isn't nearly as creepy. :P. The definition quoted for telltale was taken from the online dictionary at www . dictionary . com. **


End file.
